as we move into spring, hot salads are a great way to start lightening the food that we eat without missing out on something warm to eat.

this chorizo and bean salad is a good halfway house as the weather starts warming up as it has all the chorizo’s rich meaty flavours, balanced with the lightness of the lemon dressing (i love the way that lemon zings up any wintery food and makes it more spring, or even summer, like!). we had this as a starter but it’d also work well as an accompaniment to some simply cooked white fish.

leftovers are good for packed lunches so it’s worth making a bit extra, although the likelihood of it making it as far as a lunch-box is quite small in my house!

chorizo and bean salad (serves 4 as a starter/side dish)

150g cooking chorizo

juice of 1 lemon

400g chickpeas (1 large tin, rinsed)

400g butter beans (1 large tin, rinsed)

200g baby spinach leaves, wilted

2 large ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped

cut the chorizo into 1cm slices and fry in a non-stick pan (you won’t need any oil) until they are cooked through and starting to brown on the edges. remove from the heat and add the juice of the lemon to deglaze the pan. put the sausages and juices in a mixing bowl. add the chickpeas, butterbeans, wilted spinach and chopped tomatoes.